Alfred von Tirpitz

Alfred von Tirpitz (19 March 1849-6 March 1930) was a Grand Admiral of the Imperial German Navy who served as Secretary of State of the German Imperial Naval Office from 1897 to 1916.

Biography
Alfred von Tirpitz was born in Kustrin, Brandenburg, Prussia (present-day Kostrzyn, Poland) in 1849. He entered the Prussian navy, where he was responsible for the development of the torpedo from 1877. He advanced too naval chief officer in 1892. As Secretary of State, through the careful manipulation of popular support on the one hand, and Emperor Wilhelm's enthusiasm on the other, he was able to increase the Imperial German Navy vastly in size, a matter of serious concern to other European nations, especially the United Kingdom, and one which led to the arms race which culminated in World War I. During that war, his navy remained largely inactive apart from the indecisive Battle of Jutland. He resigned in 1916 in protest against the (temporary) scaling down of the use of U-boats after the sinknig of the Lusitania. In 1917, he helped found the patriotic German Fatherland Party. He was an MP for the far-right DNVP from 1924 to 1928, and he died in 1930.